Randalstown clothes alterations shop owner used details from 79-year-old customer's bank card to commit fraud
The owner of a clothes alterations shop in Randalstown called 'Zipper' who used details from a 79-year-old customer's bank card to buy footwear and pay for electricity has been sentenced.
Anna Olchawska (44), of Hawthorne Road, Maghera, admitted eight charges of fraud by false representation - involving several transactions of getting electricity for her home and also buying three pairs of footwear from Lamoda. The total amount involved was £1,015.
She was at Ballymena Magistrates Court on Thursday for sentencing. The court was told the 79-year-old had gone to Zipper on July 5 in 2023 and whilst trying clothes on she left her purse - containing her bank card and details - with the defendant.
The defendant took a note of the bank card details. When the customer viewed her online banking in mid-August she discovered 44 online transactions. They had been to Power NI and Lamoda.
The footwear had been sent to the defendant's home address. Forty-one electricity payments were made for the defendant's home address. The victim was reimbursed by the bank.
A defence solicitor said the defendant had struggled with alcohol at the time of the offences which "have been resolved".
He said she had pleaded guilty and had displayed a significant degree of remorse and regret.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said an impact statement showed the victim's trust in others had been "shaken" as she had sustained "emotional trauma" by the defendant going into her purse and stealing her information.
The judge added: "It is a breach of trust. I am surprised anybody goes into her shop when she does this to her customers." He said it was a serious and "nasty" offence.
He told the defendant: "This elderly lady came into your shop looking for some assistance and when her back was turned you go into her purse, take her personal details, and then access her account".
The judge said the offending was always going to come back to the defendant as items had been sent to her home address.
He said the offence would "seriously undermine" the trust of the public in her shop "and that may have more long lasting effects" than the sentence he was handing down.
The defendant was given a six months prison term, suspended for three years, and she was also ordered to pay £1,015 compensation to the bank.